THE San Francisco Giants are heading into this offseason with plenty of goals to improve a ballclub that has missed the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, but it’s no secret that one goal stands far above the rest .

It’s not often that a player of Juan Soto’s caliber becomes available at the age of 26, but the Yankees The outfielder is the prize of free agency this winter with some of baseball’s most elite teams chasing him. Count the Giants among those teams as San Francisco’s latest attempt to lure a superstar to the Bay Area.

While the actual ability to sign him remains a question, Giants fans can take solace in the fact that the noise linking the team to baseball’s best hitter appears to be very real. Jon Heyman of the New York Post named San Francisco as one of at least six teams that will meet Soto in person in Southern California with the Yankees, Dishes, Blue Jays, Red SoxAnd Dodgers.

“The Giants, who have made great efforts to attract superstars via free agency and trade (Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge to name a few), and the Red Sox, who have slipped to rankings after recently being absent from major free agency, are also considered legitimate Soto players,” Heyman wrote.

Soto’s arrival in San Francisco would be the catalyst to bring them back into the contender category. The superstar ticks all the boxes and has done his best when the lights are brightest, taking New York to the World Series in 2024 and practically winning the title. Washington Nationals on the back at their very first championship in 2019.

The Giants have often experienced disappointments at this time of year over the past decade, but with Buster Posey NOW in chargethere is renewed optimism that San Francisco might finally get it done and sign the best free agent available. This is the first big test of Posey’s tenure and from the looks of it, he has a pretty good shot.

When it comes to landing a player like Soto on teams with the highest payroll in sports, a really good shot is all you can really ask for.